Blog

In this edition of our “Meet our Intern” series meet Efa Chan, a second year Master of Public Health Student at The University of Hong Kong. Efa is working as an intern at PathFinders from January to July 2019 and has been supporting the Access to Healthcare team. Thank you Efa for your ongoing hard work and support!

What activities have you been participating in?

During my internship at PathFinders, I have been accompanying clients to attend various health care services such as hospital visits and birth control counselling. I’ve also supported on home visits and shelter visits to see our clients and assess their needs.

I’ve been assisting in PathFinders clinics to provide basic assessments for ante-natal and post-natal clients. I find the tasks at PathFinders meaningful because I can help solve clients’ difficulties when accessing the health care system and I can be the bridge between the health care providers in the system and the clients.

What have you learnt from this internship?

Working on the Access to Healthcare team has allowed me to spend a lot of time with our clients. Providing companionship in a respectful manner to our clients means a lot to them. One client who is planning to go back to her home country with her baby daughter told me that her mind was empty until she found PathFinders and she would be nothing without us. Staying with the clients and talking with them allowed me to have a better understanding of their obstacles regarding accessing health care, such as language barriers.

Being an intern at PathFinders has allowed me to know more about the neglected part of the population in Hong Kong. It has also given me the opportunity to understand the difficulties in accessing healthcare, while adequate health care access should be everyone’s right.

Having interned with PathFinders, what kind of change in society do you hope for?

Adequate healthcare access as a basic need should be everyone’s right. I hope to see everyone in our society have equal access to health care with no one mistreated. Adequate support should be provided to everyone in society including ethnic minorities.

PathFinders was founded in 2008 after two babies and their migrant mothers were found in extreme danger and poverty, with no one able or willing to help them. PathFinders is now 10 years’ old, and has now improved the lives of over 6,150 ethnic minority women and children, including over 2,800 newborns and toddlers, of whom 180 would, but for PathFinders, have been at significant risk of abuse, neglect and/or trafficking.

PathFinders serves pregnant, migrant women in distress and their Hong Kong-born children. PathFinders provides humanitarian support (food, shelter, clothing), social and welfare services, as well as access to healthcare, legal support and identity documentation. We also deliver educational workshops and provide home country integration support.

To address the root cause of our clients’ problems, we deliver preventative community education and awareness-raising initiatives. Since 2013, PathFinders has made over 250 international and local public speeches, submissions and interventions, to influence policy and promote systemic change.

PathFinders’ Fundraising team is responsible for managing donor relations, sourcing new funding and resources for our programmes. Each year in November, PathFinders hosts a fundraising dinner to celebrate our anniversary and raise a significant amount of funding. We also organise other fundraising and donor engagement events on an adhoc basis.

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

PathFinders is looking for Fundraising & Events Intern to help organise these events. We are looking for an enthusiastic and pragmatic individual, with a good balance of organisational, commercial and interpersonal skills to work closely with the wider PathFinders. This position is suitable for individuals with previous work experience who are able to work independently and take initiative. Responsibilities include;

Hold a HKID, valid visa or be eligible to apply for a working student or training visa. Students who are not permanent Hong Kong residents should refer to the conditions for taking up employment in Hong Kong. A breach of any condition will render them liable to prosecution and removal from Hong Kong under the Immigration Ordinance.

INTERNSHIP INFORMATION

This is a full or part time position, with a minimum commitment of 20 hours/week for 8 weeks, ideally between July and November

Applicants should be willing to work flexible hours to accommodate meetings and events

The internship will be based predominantly at PathFinders’ offices at Worldwide Centre, 123 Tung Chau Street, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Travel within Hong Kong is expected for events and to attend various meetings

This is an unpaid internship unless the applicant falls outside the exceptions in the Minimum Wage Ordinance. Reasonable travel expenses while on PathFinders’ business will be reimbursed

TO APPLY

Interested applicants should send a Letter of Interest, Curriculum Vitae and availability by email, with the subject “Fundraising & Events Internship Application: [full name]”, to Harriet Beavis, Business Development Manager, at harriet.beavis@pathfinders.org.hk

Shortlisted candidates will be notified by email and invited for interview. If you do not back from us within 4 weeks of submitting your application, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.

PathFinders is a committed equal opportunities employer. PathFinders Limited is non-partisan and non-religious.

PathFinders is funded by several extremely generous corporates, foundations, organizations and individual donors, and we are so grateful for all the support we receive. UNICEF Hong Kong has supported PathFinders through its Child Rights Advocacy Project in 2017-2018 which included crisis intervention and medical care for beneficiaries and support in making submissions and speeches to inform policy or procedural change.

Thank you UNICEF Hong Kong for your ongoing support of PathFinders and the work we do!

Sharing on behalf of our friends at The Zubin Foundation 小彬紀念基金會who launched Call Mira in the second half of 2018, a free support helpline for ethnic minority women and girls in distress.

The helpline connects women and girls to pro bono legal, emotional and social resources, and operates in Hindi, Urdu and English on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 4pm. This is the first service of its kind.

In this edition of our “Meet our Volunteer” series meet Linda Burgoyne, CEO at Matilda International Hospital. Linda is a qualified and experienced CEO with over 20 years’ experience in the Asia Pacific region and 4 years’ in the Middle East. She is passionate about patient-centric care and has proven success in engaging community partners whilst effectively maintaining an active role in professional organisations and charities. Thank you Linda for all your support!

HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PATHFINDERS?

I’d heard about PathFinders and wanted to find out more. When I visited I was handed a vulnerable baby to hold…..I knew our staff at Matilda could help and the rest as they say is history!

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO VOLUNTEER/SUPPORT PATHFINDERS?

I originally trained as a midwife so caring for mums and babies is very personal to me. Matilda provides excellent maternity care and we are all willing and committed to giving back to the community so it’s a great fit. PathFinders staff are truly passionate – even my mother who lives in Wales and visited PathFinders once persuaded her friends to knit hats and winter jackets for the babies.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THE ORGANISATION/NATURE OF THE WORK?

We’ve been actively involved in PathFinders’ access to healthcare programme which is a fantastic initiative providing access to vital medical services and bridging the gaps in the service provision. Matilda doctors provide antenatal check-ups, blood tests and a scan for mums and checks for ill babies.

DO YOU HAVE A MASSAGE FOR OTHER PEOPLE AT CORPORATES LOOKING TO VOLUNTEER?

Often said but nevertheless still true – you always get more back than you give.

We are delighted to announce that Morgan Stanley have selected PathFinders to be one of their two new Hong Kong core charity partners. Over the next two years, they will support projects providing social welfare and health services to vulnerable ethnic minority children.